and implants. So did the photograph of Lisa Sherman in her passport.
She was four gates away when she heard a snippet of the CNN report. She stopped short. A man wheeling an industrial-size piece of carry-on ran into her. He made a rude hand gesture as though she'd cut him off on a freeway. She ignored him and kept her eyes on the screen.
The anchorwoman was doing the report. In the right-hand corner of the screen was a photograph of her old friend Rebecca Schayes side by side with an image of... of Beck.
She hurried closer to the screen. Under the images in a blood red font were the words Death in the Darkroom.
"...David Beck, suspected in the slaying. But is that the only crime they believe he's committed? CNN's Jack Turner has more."
The anchorwoman disappeared. In her place, two men with NYPD windbreakers rolled out a black body bag on a stretcher. She recognized the building at once and almost gasped. Eight years. Eight years had passed, but Rebecca still had her studio in the same location.
A man's voice, presumably Jack Turner's, began his report: "It's a twisted tale, this murder of one of New York's hottest fashion photographers. Rebecca Schayes was found dead in her darkroom, shot twice in the head at close range." They flashed a photograph of Rebecca smiling brightly. "The suspect is her longtime friend, Dr. David Beck, an uptown pediatrician." Now Beck's image, no smile, lit up the screen. She almost fell over.
"Dr. Beck narrowly escaped arrest earlier today after assaulting a police officer. He is still at large and assumed armed and dangerous. If you have any information on his whereabouts..." A phone number appeared in yellow. Jack Turner read out the number before continuing.
"But what has given this story an added twist are the leaks coming out of Manhattan's Federal Building. Presumably, Dr. Beck has been linked to the murder of two men whose bodies were recently unearthed in Pennsylvania, not far from where Dr. Beck's family has a summer residence. And the biggest shocker of all: Dr. David Beck is also a suspect in the eight-year-old slaying of his wife, Elizabeth."
A photograph of a woman she barely recognized popped up. She suddenly felt naked, cornered. Her image vanished as they went back to the anchorwoman, who said, "Jack, wasn't it believed that Elizabeth Beck was the victim of serial killer Elroy KillRoy Kellerton?"
"That's correct, Terese. Authorities aren't doing much talking right now, and officials deny the reports. But the leaks are coming to us from very reliable sources."
"Do the police have a motive, Jack?"
"We haven't heard one yet. There has been some speculation that there may have been a love triangle here. Ms. Schayes was married to a Gary Lamont, who remains in seclusion. But that's little more than conjecture at this point."
Still staring at the TV screen, she felt the tears start welling up.
"And Dr. Beck is still at large tonight?"
"Yes, Terese. The police are asking for the public's cooperation, but they stress that no one should approach him on their own."
Chatter followed. Meaningless chatter.
She turned away. Rebecca. Oh God, not Rebecca. And she'd gotten married. Had probably picked out dresses and china patterns and done all those things they used to mock. How? How had Rebecca gotten tangled up in all this? Rebecca hadn't known anything.
Why had they killed her?
Then the thought hit her anew: What have I done?
She had come back. They had started looking for her. How would they have gone about that? Simple. Watch the people she was closest to. Stupid. Her coming back had put everyone she cared about in danger. She had messed up. And now her friend was dead.
"British Airways Flight 174, departing for London. All rows may now board."
There was no time to beat herself up. Think. What should she do? Her loved ones were in danger. Beck - she suddenly remembered his silly disguise - was on the run. He was up against powerful people. If they were trying to frame him for murder - and that seemed pretty obvious right now - he'd have no chance.
She couldn't just leave. Not yet. Not until she knew that Beck was safe.
She turned and headed for an exit.
When Peter Flannery finally saw the news reports on the David Beck manhunt, he picked up the phone and dialed a friend at the D.A.'s office.
"Who's running the Beck case?" Flannery asked.
"Fein."
A true ass, Flannery thought. "I saw